Tag
So tired @_@ Have been busy with community service all week, for about 10 hours a day. aefallen came to visit me during lunch, which definitely improved my day <3
Tagging medical files is an important, if simple, and excrutiatingly mind numbing task.
- Chrysthalls (http://www.chrysthalls.com/phpbb/index.php)
- the unfinished FF7 fic that i was writing late last year (Islands)
For those who don't know... which would be most people ^^;... i actually started a fic in late November, to stop myself from creating a head-shaped depression in the desk towards the end of term. A combination of guilty pleasure, stress relief, and stupid ideas that wouldn't go away. And then for various reasons, it got shoved aside sometime in Jan. Those who don't want to read boring rambly post can hit backspace now and move on to the next entry on their Friends page X3
A spoiler warning should probably go here... so consider yourself warned. It is AU since it ignores DoC, but just in case.
So basically i've been plotsesing and developing character concepts and backstories to keep my brain awake the last few days. Although if it's not a 'serious' fic - i'm really only writing it for myself, so it's kinda trashy - i like having a logic structure for all my stories. Even those that never leave my head ^^;
The story's themes are meant to be the different forms of isolation in modern life (particularly in cities) and the ways of coping, the consequences of choice, the nature of change, and illusions.
For anyone who may have wondered, the word "islands" was selected as the title, not only or primarily because it is the meaning of the name of one character, but because of the varied and contrasting connotations of the word. An island often conjures mental images of either a tropical utopia or a prison (in the sense of being shipwrecked or abandoned for instance), and the latter also ties into the theme of isolation. The two opposing ideas is meant to illustrate a warning about the consequence of choice and the danger of illusions. Taking an idea from one of Philip Larkin's poems, what starts off as a choice can easily turn into a habit, and then an overdependence - we can make a hell of what was once a heaven. Alternatively, what appears to be a paradise or a worthy goal may turn out to be false, disappointing at best or fatal at worst.
Each character in the story feels isolated and discontent as a result, either because of their own past choices or because of external forces that they were unable to overcome. Each deals with it in their own way. Some simply ignore/repress it (Tseng would be an example), deny it (Reno), or resign themselves to it (Rude, Reeve). A few have acknowledged their loneliness and are trying earnestly to overcome it (Elena, Isla). Trying and suceeding, of course, are two entirely different kettles of fish.
Character Concepts
It should be pretty obvious that i like the Turks XP; To me, they seem more 'real' - they have no superhuman abilities, they aren't the Chosen One, they are neither selfless heroes nor what i would really consider true villians. More than anything they seem like oridinary people living in an extraoridnary situation, just trying to make it through the day. And hardly anything is known about their pasts; which makes them excellent subjects for fics X3
Reno is my favourte Turk (originally, at least partly because fanon!Reno reminded me of Styx, a Chrysthalls NPC XD; ). So... naturally the fic centers around him >.>; Since there was no cannon chara that i considered suitable enough, Isla was created to be his direct opposite in practically all ways: a lover of order and routine to his chaos, a total non-combatant, and crippled to contrast with his constant motion.
The last was the most important point, as i wanted to highlight the difference between external and internal change. Reno, the fastest of the Turks and portrayed as fidgety and hyper, is in constant motion, while Isla without her wheelchair would be... kind of stuck XD; But on the other hand, Reno in the story is internally static while Isla is doggedly determined to change if it she thinks it will improve her life - which isn't necessarily positive, as whether it is or is nor depends on what the change effects. If you aim for the wrong target, it's largely useless even if you hit it... Isla went to Midgar in search of independance and anonimity, Reno to make a name for himself.
Both are supposed to have been born and raised in the same city (yes, more symbolism) though they didn't know each other (because even i'm not that corny XD), and come to live in the same building in Midgar, but remained oblivious to each other for about a year, prior to the start of the fic. When they finally do meet, it's in the lift lobby, and the elevators have broken down; though it's really only a problem for Reno and ... maybe i should stop smacking on the symbolism ^^;;
i wrote him as coming from a very average, middle class family. It wasn't a perfect childhood, yet it wasn't any worse than normal. An only child in the fic, i actually imagine him being something of a mummy's boy, as long as his friends weren't around. His relationship with his father was much less amiable. His first memory of the man was of being told as a crying child, "You already look like a girl, you don't have to act like one too." This accounted for the rebelliousness, smart ass-ness and problems with authority that Reno developed as he aged, as well as contributed to his tendency to hide his true feelings behind a smirk.
... starting to fall asleep, and don't think i'm making sense anyway, so shall end this here. For anyone who wants to feel better about their own writing, fic is here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2681020/1/
Just one more day...
Tagging medical files is an important, if simple, and excrutiatingly mind numbing task.
- Chrysthalls (http://www.chrysthalls.com/phpbb/index.php)
- the unfinished FF7 fic that i was writing late last year (Islands)
For those who don't know... which would be most people ^^;... i actually started a fic in late November, to stop myself from creating a head-shaped depression in the desk towards the end of term. A combination of guilty pleasure, stress relief, and stupid ideas that wouldn't go away. And then for various reasons, it got shoved aside sometime in Jan. Those who don't want to read boring rambly post can hit backspace now and move on to the next entry on their Friends page X3
A spoiler warning should probably go here... so consider yourself warned. It is AU since it ignores DoC, but just in case.
So basically i've been plotsesing and developing character concepts and backstories to keep my brain awake the last few days. Although if it's not a 'serious' fic - i'm really only writing it for myself, so it's kinda trashy - i like having a logic structure for all my stories. Even those that never leave my head ^^;
The story's themes are meant to be the different forms of isolation in modern life (particularly in cities) and the ways of coping, the consequences of choice, the nature of change, and illusions.
For anyone who may have wondered, the word "islands" was selected as the title, not only or primarily because it is the meaning of the name of one character, but because of the varied and contrasting connotations of the word. An island often conjures mental images of either a tropical utopia or a prison (in the sense of being shipwrecked or abandoned for instance), and the latter also ties into the theme of isolation. The two opposing ideas is meant to illustrate a warning about the consequence of choice and the danger of illusions. Taking an idea from one of Philip Larkin's poems, what starts off as a choice can easily turn into a habit, and then an overdependence - we can make a hell of what was once a heaven. Alternatively, what appears to be a paradise or a worthy goal may turn out to be false, disappointing at best or fatal at worst.
Each character in the story feels isolated and discontent as a result, either because of their own past choices or because of external forces that they were unable to overcome. Each deals with it in their own way. Some simply ignore/repress it (Tseng would be an example), deny it (Reno), or resign themselves to it (Rude, Reeve). A few have acknowledged their loneliness and are trying earnestly to overcome it (Elena, Isla). Trying and suceeding, of course, are two entirely different kettles of fish.
Character Concepts
It should be pretty obvious that i like the Turks XP; To me, they seem more 'real' - they have no superhuman abilities, they aren't the Chosen One, they are neither selfless heroes nor what i would really consider true villians. More than anything they seem like oridinary people living in an extraoridnary situation, just trying to make it through the day. And hardly anything is known about their pasts; which makes them excellent subjects for fics X3
Reno is my favourte Turk (originally, at least partly because fanon!Reno reminded me of Styx, a Chrysthalls NPC XD; ). So... naturally the fic centers around him >.>; Since there was no cannon chara that i considered suitable enough, Isla was created to be his direct opposite in practically all ways: a lover of order and routine to his chaos, a total non-combatant, and crippled to contrast with his constant motion.
The last was the most important point, as i wanted to highlight the difference between external and internal change. Reno, the fastest of the Turks and portrayed as fidgety and hyper, is in constant motion, while Isla without her wheelchair would be... kind of stuck XD; But on the other hand, Reno in the story is internally static while Isla is doggedly determined to change if it she thinks it will improve her life - which isn't necessarily positive, as whether it is or is nor depends on what the change effects. If you aim for the wrong target, it's largely useless even if you hit it... Isla went to Midgar in search of independance and anonimity, Reno to make a name for himself.
Both are supposed to have been born and raised in the same city (yes, more symbolism) though they didn't know each other (because even i'm not that corny XD), and come to live in the same building in Midgar, but remained oblivious to each other for about a year, prior to the start of the fic. When they finally do meet, it's in the lift lobby, and the elevators have broken down; though it's really only a problem for Reno and ... maybe i should stop smacking on the symbolism ^^;;
i wrote him as coming from a very average, middle class family. It wasn't a perfect childhood, yet it wasn't any worse than normal. An only child in the fic, i actually imagine him being something of a mummy's boy, as long as his friends weren't around. His relationship with his father was much less amiable. His first memory of the man was of being told as a crying child, "You already look like a girl, you don't have to act like one too." This accounted for the rebelliousness, smart ass-ness and problems with authority that Reno developed as he aged, as well as contributed to his tendency to hide his true feelings behind a smirk.
... starting to fall asleep, and don't think i'm making sense anyway, so shall end this here. For anyone who wants to feel better about their own writing, fic is here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2681020/1/
Just one more day...